Somewhere along the road to maturity most of us made the transition from being thankful for all the toys our parents bought us to being thankful for our parents themselves. I am impressed with how easily I fall into the immaturity trap at Thanksgiving as I focus on the toys my Heavenly Father has given me, rather than being thankful for God himself.

Part of this attitude comes from living in a society that has substantial materialistic blessings. When our affluence reaches the point where we complain we cannot afford the $313 it takes for an average family of four to attend a Red Sox game, so instead we are buying a 52” flat panel HDTV to economize I believe it is past time for a reality check.

If our thanksgiving is based on our response to the gifts we get, rather than our response to the giver, then it is likely to be a measured and calculated sense of gratitude, rather than true thankfulness. We might be thankful when David Ortiz hits a ball half way to Quincy, or wherever it goes when flying off into the night sky. We are thankful when the wine is truly memorable or the puppy is house broken. However, our thankfulness may be quite different when Big Pappi strikes out, the wine turns out to be Two Buck Chuck, or the puppy decides the living room carpet looks like green grass.

As Christians we are called to a higher thanksgiving. We are called to live our lives showing thankfulness for God, the giver. As we respond to God our hearts and lives will be filled with unmeasured and uncalculated gratitude. We will discover joy and delight in everyday living, whether or not we own a hi def television. We will even discover the satisfaction of living for God’s kingdom values. As doing good, acting with righteousness, advocating for justice, and practicing kindness become ingrained, we will experience the promise of Jesus for those who live God’s way: “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.”

Being thankful for God comes first, then follows everything else, as certainly and as naturally as God feeds the birds and clothes the flowers of the fields. May the joy of thankfulness for God the great giver fill your life this Thanksgiving season, and may you then know the bounty of his gifts.

Blessings

Pastor Jon